—Washington Independent Review of Books

“Gowda traces the fallout lines with compassion and a keen eye for the lies we tell ourselves to avoid facing our own demons. . . . A deft, patient portrait of grief.

—Kirkus Reviews

“Rendered with compassion, this is a compelling testament to a family’s struggle to find solace.”

—Booklist

“Gowda’s descriptions of their grief, coping mechanisms, and bad decisions are as compassionate as they are profound. This is clearly a writer who has studied the full spectrum of human emotion, but even more impressive is her ability to render it so beautifully on the page.”

—Book Reporter

“Sympathetic and inspiring, this intimate story is bound to stick with you.”

—Ms. Magazine

“A moving story that reflects the trials of families everywhere. . . . The result is a rich and engrossing novel about normal people trying to live their lives.”

—BookTrib

“Evocative. . . . Gowda skillfully unpacks the family’s tension and trauma.”

—Publishers Weekly

Also by Shilpi Somaya Gowda

Secret Daughter

The Golden Son

Copyright

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

P.S.™ is a trademark of HarperCollins Publishers.

THE SHAPE OF FAMILY. Copyright © 2020 by Shilpi Somaya Gowda. Excerpt from THE GOLDEN SON © 2016 by Shilpi Somaya Gowda. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

Cover design by Mumtaz Mustafa

Cover photograph © Mark Owen/Arcangel

Originally published in Canada in 2019 by HarperCollins Canada.

A hardcover edition of this book was published in 2020 by William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.

FIRST CUSTOM HOUSE PAPERBACK EDITION PUBLISHED 2021.

Digital Edition FEBRUARY 2021 ISBN: 978-0-06-293324-9

Version 12052020

Print ISBN: 978-0-06-293323-2

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